Government must prevent Canadians from travelling overseas to commit terrorism: Vic Toews

Canada must stop domestic terrorists from travelling overseas: Toews

The government has a duty to stop Canadians from travelling overseas to commit terrorism, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Wednesday at the opening of a conference on countering violent extremism.

As both Algeria and Bulgaria were investigating terrorist attacks attributed to Canadian citizens, Mr. Toews called violent homegrown extremism “one of the greatest threats” facing democratic nations.

“There is a real concern that new and evolving conflicts in the world may lure youth to engage in violent extremist activities at home and abroad,” according to speaking notes of the address released by his staff.

“Canada, like all nations, has a responsibility to guard against its citizens travelling to areas of turmoil and participating in terrorist acts. … We must actively work to prevent individuals from being recruited overseas to learn a terrorist trade.”

The RCMP confirmed last week that two of the suspected armed Islamists who attacked a gas plant in eastern Algeria in January were Canadians. Both were found dead after Algerian forces recaptured the facility.

Thirty-seven foreign workers and 29 attackers died in the incident. Meanwhile, five Israeli tourists and their local driver were killed last July in a bus bombing that Bulgaria blamed on a Lebanese-Canadian Hezbollah member.

Mr. Toews did not mention either incident in his speech, nor did he take questions from reporters. But his comments came as proposed legislation that would make it a crime to leave Canada for terrorist purposes was making its way through Parliament.

Bill S-7 goes to the House of Commons for third reading on Thursday. It is controversial because it would also allow a judge to compel testimony from those believed to have knowledge of imminent terrorist threats. Failure to cooperate could be grounds for arrest.

In addition, under the bill, if police believed a terrorist crime was about to be committed, but lacked the evidence to lay charges, they could still make an arrest. A judge could then release the suspect but impose conditions on his or her behavior.

Civil liberties groups oppose the bill and Craig Scott, the NDP MP for Toronto-Danforth, said he would argue in a speech to the House Thursday that it uses concerns about Canadians going abroad to wage terrorism as an excuse to enact inappropriate powers.

He said family, friends and neighbors of terror suspects could face intrusive and unfair measures. “I am also very worried about discriminatory operation of these measures vis- à-vis Canadian communities that the government keeps identifying with extremism, and about the inadequacy of oversight and review mechanisms for use of these powers.”

The RCMP has come out in support of the bill. At hearings last November, Assistant Commissioner James Milizia said the legislation had adequate safeguards and would allow police to stop extremists before they left Canada.

“We are seeing a consistent volume of individuals being radicalized who are looking to travel abroad to either participate in, train for, or conduct terrorist acts,” he testified. “The question is, once they’ve received training, what harm will come to either our allies or to ourselves if they decide to return to Canada? That is definitely a continuing concern for us.”